Verbal announcements? Bulletins? Smoke signals? Begging? Pleading?

What if I told you one of the most effective ways to move church members through your discipleship process was with your website? Would you believe me?

Anticipating some skepticism, here are three examples of churches who clearly communicate the discipleship process with their website.

Highland Park United Methodist

One of the most helpful items on Highland Park's website is the STARTINGPOINT button at the bottom of their image rotators.

StartingPoint is the major discipleship opportunity for the church. Directing traffic to this specific ahem starting point is smart for two reasons:

1. It captures the homepage traffic magic and places a highly-visible call-to-action where people are most likely to see it.
2. When people click, it communicates there is more to being a member of Highland Park than simply attending on Sundays.

From the StartingPoint page:

StartingPoint is for anyone who wants to learn more about HPUMC. Attending is the first step in becoming a member.

This last sentence moves new visitors and regular attenders into a deeper relationship with the church by suggesting membership. Brilliant.

Eagle Brook Community Church

Eagle Brook is one of those rare churches that gets simplicity. Simple does not mean simplistic. In fact, the exact opposite is often true.

Simple website design and information architecture is incredibly complex. It takes time, effort, thinking, pruning, and constantly asking the question, "does this need to go here?"

What you get with Eagle Brook is a home page that communicates something to every persona within the discipleship process of a church:

1. New visitors: Locations and service times, plus a dedicated "I'm New" section to ensure people coming for the first time know what to expect.
2. Regular attenders: The "Next Steps" section is specifically for people who want to grow in their commitment to the church community. Appropriately named and no doubt creates movement along the mission process.
3. Active members: The "Giving" tab allows members to easily give with just three clicks. (Our research shows members who attend the church longer are more likely to give regularly online.) The "Latest Message" page is also targeted towards active members.
4. Mature disciples: For the full-fledged disciple-makers of Eagle Brook, we go back to the "Next Steps" section. Mature disciples can search for opportunities where they can serve, both locally and globally.

The Eagle Brook home page works because it communicates something to every persona within the church.

Port City Community Church

The beautifully-designed website of Port City Church clearly communicates it's a church whose desire is to be known.

Much like Eagle Brook's website, Port City communicates to each persona in the mission process design continuum.

For new members, the "I'm New" button as the first item in the top navigation practically screams, "click me!" Port City

Regular attenders are encouraged to take "Next Steps" to further integrate into the communal life of the church. (The "Events" tab at the top is a genius way to create movement among regular attenders.)

Active members can easily join a small group by registering for MYPC3, the online portal for church members. MYPC3 is the place where "you can search for a Small Group, stay in touch with other volunteers and/or your small group through group calendars and communications, donate online or view your giving statement."

Mature disciples can pick from the opportunities listed in MYPC3 or from the long list of volunteer opportunities at Port City.

Conclusion

Even though these churches serve different populations and communities, they all share one thing in common: movement. The home page clearly communicates to the various groups within the church, while maintaining a crystal-clear focus on the mission. That, dear readers, is a hard thing to do.

If you do nothing else: Does your church website have the same clear path for involvement? Does it create movement among your members? If not, let us help you create a mission process design.

Turns out church communicators aren't shy about voicing their opinion. We love that. There was a lot of wisdom in their answers. Gold nuggets we wanted to share with you.

We distilled the most-requested features and needs were and put them in an easy-to-read list below. Check it out.

What Church Communicators Need From a Website Solution

Need #1: Easy-to-use CMS

"We wanted to have as many pages as we wanted. Easy navigational setup was a must. We also wanted a template that was easy-to-use but provided a polished web presence. None of our staff are HTML coders! Our church also needed online giving—our previous host could not do that." Rachel Allen, Central Bible Church

Need #2: Strategic website alignment with mission

"We had no purpose, direction, or mission with our old site. We wanted to work with a partner who had a strategy component we needed that element to better think through the purpose of our website." Don Wamboldt, Worship Center

Need #3: Control over events

"We are so community-driven, we needed more control over our ability to coordinate events." Eric Wafforde and Alison Aars, Highland Park United Methodist Church

Need #4: Flexibility to edit content

"The most crucial need we had was being able to edit our site as-needed. We wanted something we could edit and keep up with ourselves. We didn’t want to be spending a lot of time on the website and miss out on ministry opportunities." Myke Wilkerson, True Vine Church

"We needed a design overhaul and also wanted easy-to-manage content. I need something I can tweak on my own without having to contact a web developer." Greg McIntyre, Wilmot Centre Missionary Church

"Keeping content updated on our site is difficult because our current system isn't easy to use. I need the ability to have several leaders within our church update their own content. People aren't doing it now because the system is too difficult to use. Even when they do update content, our people are having issues with the design and layouts of the pages." Mike Galvin, Holy Family Episcopal Church

Need #5: Multimedia integration

"The way our site looks and the ability to edit and use video are my main concerns." Mark Davis, WestWinds Church

"I wanted a solution that would be intuitive, fluid, and easy for people who have other responsibilities and aren’t web programmers or content managers. We wanted a solution that offered a wide range of features and designs that allowed flexibility and graphic elements in stills, slideshows or video." - David Skidmore, Diocese of Milwaukee

Conclusion

It's clear church communicators have specific needs when it comes to a CMS. What needs do you and your team have? Simply put, what makes you happy when you're creating, managing, and updating content for your church website?

If you do nothing else: Take a look at how Monk Development helped Eagle Brook Church navigate the same challenges listed above.

As we talk to more and more church communicators, we've noticed specific problems areas arise time and again. Most of these pains stem from a lack of cohesive missional direction within an organization.

At MonkDev we've coached numerous churches and helped them establish missional goals. (If you think this might be your church, please let us know. We're here to help!) Without some outside help, these issues might not ever get resolved.

In the meantime, see if you don't identify with some of the issues presented on this list.

5. Moving from gatekeeper to consultant. Our CEO, Drew Goodmanson, often says communication professionals need to move to be consultants working with ministry leaders to be effective in using technology to achieve their ministry goals. Their role must shift from the "rubber stamp people" to the "how can we resource you to achieve your goals?" people.

4. Overall communications strategy. When we talk to church communicators, the tension they're feeling often comes from a lack of missional focus. Sure, there's usually a vague mission statement in place somewhere, but it hasn't permeated the entire organization. Communication requires a subject—an end point. Too often, church communicators feel like they're trying to hit a moving target. If the mission isn't clear, the communication surrounding the mission won't be either.

Missional alignment helps direct the course for focused posting. Combine alignment with our easy-to-use technology, and you have a strategy to help you create your ministry goals online.

3. Content strategy for the website. A website exists to convey who you are as a church to those outside the organization. It can also actively move people through the discipleship process of your church. The only kicker? It needs to be focused. The content on your website needs to cut like a laser beam, not blast like a shotgun. Does each word have a purpose? If not, it's time to look into a content strategy.

2. Budget constraints. One of the most mentioned obstacles is budget restrictions. Communication folks simply feel like they don't have enough in the budget tank to go as far as they'd like. Thankfully, there are affordable, free, and near-free solutions to do a lot of the church communications heavy-lifting. MonkDev's Instasite solution, for instance, can get your church into a responsive design church website for less then the cost of most iPads. (If you want further penny-pinching tips, check out this great post from Church Marketing Sucks.)

1. Time. Who's got the time? Not church communicators. Whether it's facing the challenge of navigating internal deadlines, a stalled project, or the cyclical Sunday deadline, church communicators nearly always operate under a time crunch. Simply put, there's a lot to get to for a church communicator throughout the week: bulletins, blog posts, posters, signage, emails, document approval, editing, writing, designing, announcements, slide decks...WHEW! Finding enough time in the week to get everything done is a major challenge for church communicators. 

If you're feeling the pinch, know there's an entire team here at MonkDev waiting to help. We've built modules to help church communicators leverage what time they do have. Easy-to-edit Staff Pages, role assignments (so you don't get stuck in the bottleneck), and a ministry-minded team to help you and your staff so you aren't stuck doing support. Let's talk!

Conclusion

Any way you slice it, church communicators have a tremendous responsibility to communicate a timeless message in a economic and interesting way. We'll lead you through that process here on the blog in the next few weeks.

If you do nothing else: What's one common challenge you face as a church communicator? Let us know in the comments. Try and surprise us!

One of the most oft-asked questions we get here at MonkDev is, "Is Ekklesia 360 built on WordPress or another open-source site?"

The quick answer is, "no." While there are a lot of fantastic open-source solutions available, churches must realize implementing one of them isn't necessarily free. Scaling an open-source solution takes skill, time, and commitment.

The True Cost of Open-Source

The cost of open-source is hidden in the time and money involved with installing the software, customizing it, installing plug-ins, and maintaining the software with upgrades and security patches.

Unless you have a savvy volunteer who can devote part-time hours to maintaing your site, most churches will need someone to dedicate time to managing their software. Someone like Tom.

Therein lies the problem. As we've noted, Techie Tom is busy. Whether it's helping other team members connect to wifi, researching the latest load times for the church's servers, or showing the executive team on the best way forward for the church website, adding huge website responsibilities to Tom's work load makes him unhappy. Having an available technical resource to call when they need to get things done is a huge plus.

Freeing Tom Up to Focus

Tom will gravitate towards a solution that frees him up to focus on ministry by handling all technical details for him. This means he can focus on what he does best—whatever it may be—and not get stuck in the doldrums of software maintenance.

A system like the one MonkDev offers has the flexibility and customization Techie Tom likes. Ekklesia 360 has the oomph to satisfy even the most technically-minded Toms around.

We've thought through how a sermon can be uploaded and distributed online and for maximum impact and reach. Think of MonkDev as another member of your church staff, thinking ahead about future technical needs and consistently working in the background with your team in mind.

A technical person like Tom doesn't want to spend hours "creating" or "modifying" a website. A solution built to work out-of-the-box to accomplish the common goals for church websites—increase awareness, engage members, deepen relationships—is highly appealing to Tom.

Tom's Mission, Should He Choose to Accept It

Imagine a solution that provides a high level of customization right out of the gate, and you've found something that'll make Tom a happy man. Tom wants to know he can dive into the website and make any modifications and customizations himself if he has the time. He also wants to know he can pick up the phone and get help from a trusted source, should he need it.

(Our Instasite option was built with this in mind. It can work for 90% of churches right out of the box. Tom can add logos, colors, and content without having to turn to anyone else.)

Ultimately, Techie Tom is passionate about much more than technology. He's all about seeing the tools he uses on a daily basis for the spread of the gospel.

Only Sam doesn't exist. At least, not physically. He's a persona the good folks at the church developed to typify their average attender. When decisions need to be made, the question arises, "how would this affect Sam?" Here he is for your point of reference:

The leadership team at Saddleback wants to ensure their decisions aren't being made in a vacuum. This is why Sam is profoundly helpful. It puts flesh-and-blood to a very large community. Putting a face on a crowd is a smart way to keep your community front-and-center.

I'm sure Sam has his limitations. A single characterization can't accurately describe an entire congregation. But the point isn't to describe everyone. It's to typify what a person attending Saddleback thinks, cares, and dreams about. (There's also a Saddleback Samantha, but I couldn't find her in similar diagram form. I'm sure she's pleasant, though!)

Profiling the Concerns of Church Staffers

We're starting a new series on the blog called "Everything You Need to Know About Building a Church Website." No matter who you have on your team, or where you fall in the chain of command, we want to give you a guide for working on a website with any and all personality types.

Much like "Saddleback Sam," we'll profile the following types in the weeks ahead:

1. Techie Tom
2. Communicator Connie
3. Executive Pastor Ernie

The goal is to show you what each person is concerned about and how to facilitate discussions with each one. If you're on a church staff and need to get a website updated, refreshed, or built, you won't want to miss this series.

We'll start with Techie Tom next week. But just so you're not chomping at the bit, here's a little preview of what we'll be unpacking:

Tom is a doer. He fixes anything and everything that has to do with the computers. He changes settings on servers, sets up email accounts, and troubleshoots when the office printer doesn’t work. He’ll most likely be asked to take any tech product the church invests in out for a “spin” to see what it can do. Tom cares deeply about the church website, focusing on the granular mechanical details rather than how it looks.

Know anyone like that? Are you a Techie Tom? If so, what's the best way to work with your personality type when tackling the building of a website?

Conclusion: Do you have a "Saddleback Sam" for your church? Should all churches build personas like this?

We started profiling these personas last week here on the blog, so today we want to finish out the group with Engaged Member and Mature Disciple.

Again, we'll be revealing what our research shows as the most important sections for each of these two groups. Understanding the needs of each group is a critical path for creating an effective church website.

Engaged Member

An engaged member is someone who's been at the church for over two years but no more than ten. They'll be familiar with the church, the community, programs, and events the church offers. They'll want to know things like:

Event Registration. How do they sign-up for classes, events, and programs on your website? This group showed the highest demand for an easy-to-use online registration process. Like the other groups, the website is most helpful to them in facilitating connection to the community.

Email Newsletter. Engaged members want their information delivered via email. Make sure there are easily identifiable places on your website to sign-up for e-blasts. (You do have those in place, right?)

Facebook Fan Page. Because engaged members are familiar with the church, they're looking to connect relationally with other members of the community. More than any other social network, Facebook emerged as a front runner for this specific group. Judging by the data, if you were to poll your Facebook community on how long they've been attending your church, most of them will have been there for 2+ years.

Mature Disciple

We're defining "mature disciples" as community members who have been at the church for 10+ years and self-identify as a Christian. Simply put, these are your "go-to" people; the folks you couldn't do ministry without!

Here's what interests mature disciples most on your church's website:

Text Updates. Although this isn't a distinct function of a church website, mature disciples were most likely to indicate a strong preference for receiving informational text updates from the church. You can facilitate this connection by offering simple ways for members to sign-up for text updates on your church website. Services like Jarbyco and Tatango are helpful when considering how to do text updates.

Small Groups/Home Groups. Not surprisingly, mature disciples wanted to know where to access information specific to small groups. Although this element of church life is important for all personas, mature disciples seem to be seeking out this information more than any other group.

Email Newsletter. Again, the longer someone attends a church, the more likely they are to opt-in to email updates. Relationships are formed, ministry allegiances are fortified, and people want to know what's going on in the life of the church. Much like the engaged members, mature disciples proactively seek out information. Make it easy for this group to find email updates.

Conclusion

Community life is at the center of both of these groups interaction with the church website. The more you can facilitate specific connections to the community for these two groups, the more successful your website will be.

If you do nothing else: Please join our newsletter to receive exclusive access to our next white paper report, "2012 State of the Church Online."